Aorta Omaha Presents Downswing & Kaonashi

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Two of the US's most crushing doom bands visit Omaha this summer

Yob
Bell Witch
Opening act TBA

$15 adv - Tickets on sale Friday, March 9th at 11am
Doors at 7, Show at 8
All ages - Valid ID required for entry

Yob
"Epic, crushing, and heavy beyond words, YOB has achieved legendary status in recent years due to their unmatched aesthetic and incredible body of work. Formed in 1996 in Eugene, Oregon under the leadership of doom metal mastermind Mike Scheidt on guitars and vocals, the group initially released a three song demo tape in 2000 that garnered them international attention. Drawing comparisons to groups like Neurosis, Sleep and Electric Wizard, YOB succeeded in developing modern sounding doom metal that hearkened back to the classics.

In 2002, YOB released their debut album Elaborations of Carbon followed by Catharsis in 2003, a three song record that clocked in at a colossal 50 minutes. The buzz about YOB was beginning to grow and the trio began to tour more extensively. Remaining quite prolific during this period, YOB continued to release an album each year with The Illusion of Motion coming in 2004 followed by The Unreal Never Lived in 2005. Despite all the momentum, YOB disbanded in 2006.

In 2008 the band returned from hiatus and has remained strong ever since with Travis Foster on drums and Aaron Rieseberg on bass. Reinvigorated and reinspired, YOB released The Great Cessation in 2009. It was doom with a psychedelic twist, a sound that Pitchfork referred to as ?cosmic doom.? At this point in their career, the band found increased exposure in the media, with The New York Times going so far as to call them ?one of the best bands in North America? after a performance at Scion Rock Festival.

For 2011?s Atma , YOB took a more organic approach to recording, opting to track everything at once. In Scheidt?s own words, he wanted the record to sound ?grizzly, with hair on it.? Three year later, the group released Clearing the Path to Ascend , a record that upheld their legacy as a top notch doom metal act and was hailed by Rolling Stone as the #1 metal album of the year.

Now in 2018, the band has announced their newest album ?Our Raw Heart? to be released on Relapse Records. As for how Our Raw Heart will be received? Mike Scheidt (guitar/vocals) is wise enough to know that it?s out of his hands. ?I think every era of Yob fan will find something on there to dig?it?s just a matter of whether they can go on the whole trip or not,? he ventures. ?And that?s none of my business. The music has a life of its own. It goes out there into the world and it?s gonna be received however it?s received.?

Bell Witch
"With their third full-length album, ?Mirror Reaper,? Seattle?s doom metal duo BELL WITCH have created a truly enormous work ? one continuous 83-minute piece unfolding as a single track.

Engineered and mixed by veteran producer Billy Anderson (Swans, Sleep, Neurosis), the duo of Dylan Desmond (bass, vocals) and Jesse Shreibman (drums, vocals, organ) have pushed the band?s sound further than it?s ever gone before. While retaining the monolithic heaviness of their previous releases, ?Mirror Reaper? sees the band explore the more meditative, melancholy, and introspective aspects to their sound through the introduction of long, lonely organ passages and the return of honorary BELL WITCH member, vocalist Erik Moggridge (Aerial Ruin), offering a prominent presence.

Formed by Desmond and ex-drummer/vocalist Adrian Guerra, BELL WITCH released their first self-titled demo in 2011 and partnered with Profound Lore Records for their debut album, ?Longing,? in 2012. The duo?s second LP, the acclaimed ?Four Phantoms? (2015) was recognized as one of doom metal?s triumphs of the year. The band extensively toured in North America and Europe, securing notable festival appearances (Roadburn, Basilica Soundscape, Sled Island, Psycho CA).

On the themes surrounding the concept and lyrics of ?Mirror Reaper? the band state:

?The title ?Mirror Reaper? is indicative of the Hermetic axiom ?As Above, So Below,? written with two sides to form one whole. The song is both its own and its reflection, as an opposite is whole only with its contrary. Our focus as a band has always been the perception of ghosts and the implied archetype of the dichotomy of life/death therein. ?Mirror Reaper? is a continuation of that concept.

During the writing process we were devastated by the loss of our dear friend and former drummer, Adrian Guerra. In love and respect to his memory, we reserved an important yet brief section in the song for him that features unused vocal tracks from our last album. This specific movement serves as a conceptual turn in the piece, or point of reflection. We believe he would be proud of it as well.

?Mirror Reaper? was the first collaborative writing project with the new line up, and Adrian's death during it brought extra emotional weight. We sought to match the complexity and weight of these events within the composition of the piece.?

Unearth w/ Mychildren Mybride, Downhearted, Die to Exist & Stronghold
at Lookout Lounge
6pm doors
All Ages (Under 18 w/ notarized permission form)
$20 advance

Middle Class Rut w/ Black Map, Save The Hero & Desiato
at Lookout Lounge
6pm Doors
All Ages (Under 18 w/ notarized permission form)
$12 advance

Twista

Tickets: $20 ADV / $25 DOS
On sale 2/9 at 10am: http://bit.ly/TwistaOmaha

All ages / doors at 8pm

Life?s best surprises often come from unlikely places. Twista knows this better than most.
The pioneering platinum rapper put Chicago on the rap map and made the double-time rap style a rap staple. Despite selling millions of albums and popularizing a delivery incorporated by everyone from Jay-Z to Eminem, the Windy City rapper remains largely unheralded by the uninformed. That?s why he?s named his new album The Dark Horse.
?Knowing my personality, that I?m laid-back and low-key and there?s not a lot of rah-rah, I?m usually the one that people least expect to stand out,? he says. ?I?m not just talking about being on a track. I?m talking about when I?m in a room with the big dogs. I?m usually the last person expected to do something. My name also gets left off the Top MCs list, so I took on the mentality of where feel like I?m looked at as a dark horse in the industry. I like to just come out unexpectedly and shine on them.?
Twista does just that on The Dark Horse selections ?For Me And You? and ?Scale The Wall.? Produced by longtime sonic partner The Legendary Traxster (Do Or Die, Mariah Carey), these two songs add new installments to the pair?s classic collaborations. ?I think those two songs in particular are going to make people feel like, ?Damn, this boy ain?t lost a step. This sounds just like ?Adrenaline Rush? or ?Death Before Dishonor? Twista,?? Twista explains. ?The people that want to hear that dark, bass-hitting Twistasound with me snapping, I?m definitely going to satisfy them.?
The same can be said for the Tech N9ne collaboration ?Psycho.? Although the pair has worked together over the years, this song showcases a new, dramatic dimension to their material. ?It?s done in the way that I envisioned a song that Tech N9ne and I would do,? Twista says. ?Sometimes we?ve done songs where I haven?t really hit that style that I want to hit with him. There?s a certain type of vibe that I wanted to hit. By me being the one that picked the beat and being able to tell him how I want to go in on it, it?s exactly how I wanted a Tech N9ne and Twista song to sound. We?re going in so hard and in such a way that people can see that we?re pretty much the top ones doing it.?
Twista shifts gears on ?Throwin My Money.? The future strip club anthem features Twista freaking fast and slow flows and sharing the mic with fellow Chi-Town musical titan R. Kelly. ?It?s got that Twista swing to it,? Twista says. ?When I let R. Kelly hear the song, he thought it was a monster once he heard the hook and the vibe of the song. When I heard the finished product, I was like, ?We?ve got to throw this out there.? Songwise and vibewise, I felt like it?s a good song and people will rock to it.?
Then there?s ?Next To You? with crooner Jeremih. The soulful selection features Twista adopting a suave approach and delivering his raps in a distinctive way. ?It doesn?t feel like a normal song,? he says. ?It has a tripped out cadence to it to where I?m doing the Twista style, but it?s not in the average way where everybody can bite it like they usually do.?
Elsewhere, pays homage to rap elder statesmen Run-DMC with the stylish ?a.d.i.d.a.s.? He got the idea for the song when he and his friends were vibing and listening to beats. ?It put me in a Run-DMC mindstate,? Twista says. ?That?s what made me be like, ?Let me go ahead and do this.??
From the first time Twista rapped, people wanted to hear him do this. He broke through in the early 1990s as Tung Twista, earning acclaim as the fastest rapper in the world, even holding the Guinness World Record title for the distinction.
But it would take a while for people to catch up to Twista?s trailblazing rap abilities. When he reemerged in 1996 with Do Or Die on the landmark ?Po Pimp? single, the rechristened Twista amazed fans and critics alike with his remarkably smooth rapid-fire raps. Twista then became a rap king with the release of Adrenaline Rush, his 1997 album. The collection?s mind-bending vocal performances, terrific storytelling and supreme lyricism placed Twista among rap?s premier artists.
?I think I helped offer in a new vibe, a new style to what we already had in hip-hop and rap music,? he explains. ?Even though you had a few people dabbling in it, the level that I took the double time style to helped contribute to there being another style that you could do your music.?
Twista became even more popular in 2003 and 2004 when he teamed with fellow Chicagoan Kanye West and Jamie Foxx for the smash single ?Slow Jamz.? Twista?s 2004 album, Kamikaze, earned him his first platinum plaque. Since then, Twista has remained one of rap?s premier practitioners and in-demand collaborators. He?s appeared on albums from Mariah Carey, Pitbull and Jay-Z, among others, and released a string of acclaimed albums and mixtapes.
But for Twista, it all comes down to the music. It?s the reason he?s remained one of rap?s top talents for two decades. ?It?s the love of the music,? he says. ?I do other things and I have other business ventures that I do, but my love is really with the music. I keep doing it and staying in it because I love music. I still get excited every time I hear a beat or think of a different flow.?
Now with The Dark Horse, Twista brings new life into his music by recreating his classic style and building upon it, too. ?I try not to break what I know is already cool or what people want from me,? he says. ?People want to just hear that fierce Twista stuff that they know and love. The main thing I?m doing with this album is staying true to what people know that I do.?

Iceage
with Mary Lattimore - Harpist

Tickets: $13 ADV / $15 DOS
On sale 2/14 at 10am: http://bit.ly/2G8jmwv

All ages / doors at 7pm

Iceage is Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, Dan Kjær Nielsen, Johan Suurballe Wieth, and Jakob Tvilling Pless. Beyondless, Iceage?s fourth record (and first that was recorded all-analog), was produced by the band and Nis Bysted, recorded by Mattias Glavå at Kungsten Studios Göteberg, and mixed by Randall Dunn at Avast Studios Seattle. The album was played entirely by the band with additional performances by Nils Gröndhal (violin), horns by Kasper Tranberg (trumpet), Lars Greve (saxophones) and Morten Jessen (trombone), and vocals on ?Pain Killer? by Sky Ferreira.

Below please find further words on this moving, majestic new album and its nuanced craftsmanship from Daniel Stewart (Total Control) and Richard Hell.

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The beauty of a moral act depends on the beauty of its expression. To say that it is beautiful is to decide that it will be so. It remains to be proved so. This is the task of images, that is, of the correspondences with the physical world. The act is beautiful if it provokes, and in our throat reveals, song. Sometimes the consciousness with which we have pondered a reputedly vile act, the power of expression which must signify it, impels us to song. This means that treachery is beautiful if it makes us sing.
-Genet, A Thiefs Journal

Beyondless is the 4th LP from Iceage. This record radiates joy.

Pay attention to the journey, from New Brigade, a juvenile delinquent take on post-punk, full of cold, distant condemnation, and onto the ecstasy of You?re Nothing, shedding the more aggressive hardcore influence and dragging in more light, a tendency followed on Plowing Into The Field Of Love. The intoxication is consistent, this has always been drunk music, but it?s less a stumbling confusion and more a sturdy heartfelt confession with each record. They have finally caught up with their ambition. Their entire charm has always rested in their running ahead of themselves with blind confidence, taunting you to follow and you follow because wherever they are going is vital, is alive; on Beyondless they are treading with an assurance that is disarming, but there is no loss of charm, you are arm in arm now, whispering intimacies.

Intimacies that recall other intimacies: something must have happened when Iceage heard Gun Club Miami. Some traumatic event! A wild band has not been tamed, but is in repose, retaining an edge but expressing something less definite, something about hurt or longing or regret.

Attention must be directed toward the brilliance of EBR?s lyricism on Beyondless! In his evocations of beauty in profane imagery, in his plumbing of the depths of betrayal and criminality, there are suggestions of Jean Genet and the disgraceful slurring of Leonard Cohen.

Love?s Forever Changes is an appropriate reference point for the record, orchestral touches to rock music that reached in a very affected / effected manner toward some transcendent experience. You can hear blissful catatonic evocations of the Waterboys, slurring face down on the bar some holy affirmations. Overall, the strongest suggestion is of the Stones in their Exile period, holed up in some decadent mansion attempting to pay tribute to American music from country honk brawls to sleazy soul revues to cocaine blues, it has this confident air of music written in the midst of excessive reveries.

Letting in the light, the joy radiates. They are post post-punk, Beyondless retains the rich character of their brash beginnings, but this is something beyond, oh hell, this is something very, very special, a generous gift for an anemic age.

-Daniel Stewart (Total Control)

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THE NEW ICEAGE
by Richard Hell

I can totally imagine myself as a kid lying in my closed-door room in the dark, listening to this band and getting what I need, the way a band can make a person feel seen and bring confidence, sometimes even represent an ideal. Or maybe I?m already all defiant and self-certain, and I identify with Iceage because they are too, and they?re who I want to represent me in music. It?s a weird combination of qualities that a rock and roll band and their recordings presents to their young crowd, imparts to them. The music being pure emotion, the strong emotions of youth?anger, sadness, contempt, longing?as well as energy and sex, and the band?s demonstration that it gracefully owns and provides those things, consoling their followers in all the confusion.
What is it that Iceage in particular brings? A large number of extraordinary things. (Poetry! But more about that later.) The band members were childhood friends, which is always good news. They?re like a small urban gang, faithful to each other, suspicious of outsiders (of which music journalists like me are the most suspect examples). At the same time, they seem mature and competent, which is almost too much to hope for. They not only play and compose well, but the production of their records, from the very beginning, and at the music?s most chaotic, is impeccable. Their presentation is as hardcore anarchic as any, but much better played, mixed, and recorded than most.
And then there?s the poetry and the intelligence. The members of Iceage are not only smart but hyper literate. Interviews with E. Rønnenfelt, the lead singer and lyricist of the band, find him mentioning Carson McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; Georges Bataille, Story of the Eye; Peter Shaffer?s Equus; Mishima, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea; Genet?s Thief?s Journal and Miracle of the Rose; The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau; Henry Miller on Writing; and James Agee?s A Death in the Family, and that?s in a total of four interviews. It?s not that he flaunts it; he?s simply honest and naturally acknowledges it.
The lyrics of Iceage songs have the most sophisticated vocabulary I can remember finding in rock music. Here?s a favorite example, from ?Pain Killer? (ft Sky Ferreira) on the new album:

Praying at the altar of your legs and feet
Your saliva is a drug so bittersweet
I?ll arrogate what?s there to take
In an evanescent embrace

??Arrogate???? I half know the word, but I had to look it up to be certain. It means ?to claim or seize without justification.? It?s funny because its Latin root also underlies the word ?arrogant,? which one might be tempted to apply to Rønnenfelt for the contempt he shows for people who try to understand him. But I sympathize. It is extremely annoying to be characterized by other people. And the shading of meaning of the word ?arrogate? brings a subtlety to those lyrics of his that ?take? or ?seize? or ?claim? wouldn?t. Frankly, though, what I really like about those lines is the concept of praying to his lover?s feet. That?s good. It makes me think of a similar instance in another poet, Charles Baudelaire, who wrote in his ?Hymn to Beauty?:

Who cares if you come from paradise or hell,
appalling Beauty, artless and monstrous scourge,
if only your eyes, your smile or your foot reveal
the infinite I love and have never known?

Horse Feathers

Tickets: $15 ADV / $17 DOS
On sale now: http://bit.ly/2t5wRva

All ages / Doors at 7pm

Horse Feathers feels like a secret you don?t really want to share. Over twelve years and five albums, a passionate fan base has experienced this band as a precious commodity that they want to keep close to their hearts. One reason for this can be found in lead singer Justin Ringle?s distinctive voice, at once vulnerable and piercing, and in the quality of the music: gorgeous, lush string arrangements surrounding stark, visceral lyrics whose bite makes a piquant juxtaposition to the surrounding beauty.

Now, however, Horse Feathers has created an album that differs enough from its predecessors to suggest that the cat might get out of the bag. On Appreciation, their sixth full-length and the fifth on venerable independent label Kill Rock Stars, the signifiers of the band are there: Ringle?s warm tenor and lyrics that speak of work, love, and other struggles. But on this album less of the song dynamics are achieved with strings and more with an exciting new rhythm section steeped in Northern Soul. Longtime violinist Nathan Crockett and keyboardist Dustin Dybvig provide continuity, but much of Appreciation feels like the best of Ringle?s previous musical ideas just took a giant step into a larger arena.

Recorded primarily in Kentucky (at La-La Land Studios in Louisville and Shangri-La Studios in Lexington), the new album features instrumentalists J. Tom Hnatow, Robby Cosenza and R&B vocalist Joslyn Hampton, who helped make Appreciation a mixture of strutting ?70s-style country-pop (?Without Applause,? ?Don?t Mean To Pry?) and supple soul (?Best To Leave,? ?Evictions?). But Horse Feathers hasn?t gained accessibility at the expense of quality, nor at the expense of their signature instrumentation (?The Hex? might be the only R&B/soul song where the rhythmic lead is played on banjo). For those who crave what NPR called ?the densely pretty seethe of Horse Feathers? earlier ballads?, the album delivers ?Born in Love? and ?On the Rise?, accentuating the string surge with Hammond organ, piano, tambourine, and finger snaps.

?It just felt like a fresh take on how my songs can come across,? Ringle says. ?With this incarnation, it?s okay if what I?m doing right now is in fact kind of a pop song. I can have a chorus and repeat something. I?m more aware of that and enjoy it.?

This artistic adjustment comes in the wake of a lot of changes in Ringle?s life. Not too long ago, he left his former hometown of Portland for the coastal city Astoria, Oregon. He?s also been dipping his toes into the world of record production, helping North Carolina band River Whyless with the recording of their last album We All The Light. After a while of bouncing between three states, as well as stops in Camas, Washington to finish Appreciation with longtime compatriot Skyler Norwood at Miracle Lake Studios, Ringle is finally settling down just in time to get ready to hit the road with Horse Feathers in support of this new album. ?I wanna get out there and do my job,? he says.

Diehard fans are going to find plenty to cherish on Appreciation. But they?re going to have to make room in the club house for a lot more people ? with this album, the Horse Feathers secret is officially out.

Koe Wetzel

Tickets: $15 ADV / $17 DOS
On sale 3/16 at 10am: http://bit.ly/2FGcLu3

All ages / Doors at 7pm


Born and raised in East Texas, Koe Wetzel is rapidly gaining momentum in the Texas scene. The band brings a strong mixture of southern rock energy and East Texas charm.
Koe began performing at an early age. Overnight, he had what seemed like an immediate fan base in his home state. He has since brought together this band and hit the road touring heavily. The band is made up of Koe Wetzel (Vocals/ Acoustic Guitar), Andres Rocha (Drums), Mason Morris (Harmony Vocals/Bass), Jerrod Flusche (Rhythm/Lead Guitar), and Michael Odis Parrish (Lead Guitar.)
As the band continued to play shows, Koe began writing in between performances. Bringing personal experience and inspiration from others to life with a melody was second nature to the young artist, ?Being able to connect with an audience, or a fan, because they feel like they can relate to your lyrics is one of the coolest experiences in the world. There's no greater feeling than hearing that your lyrics or your song mean something to someone.?
Koe Wetzel's album, "Noise Complaint" was released in 2016 and the band has hit the studio to work on their sophomore album.

The Throwback Party

Tickets: $5 ADV / $20 - 5 Packs
On sale now: http://bit.ly/2GSqv4a

All ages / doors at 8pm

The Throwback Party is a 90s and early 2000s inspired event featuring guest DJs spinning all your favorite hip-hop, r&b, and occasional pop hits.

We will have DJs, event photographers, and much more!

90s attire is highly encouraged!