Flourishing - Biography
Biography
The band formed roughly around 2003 and went through several incarnations which included members of Human Remains and Time's Up among it's ranks before it's current three piece inception.
In 2010 the band release A Momentary Sense Of The Immediate World to critical acclaim and favorable reviews.
The Sum Of All Fossils will be known as the album on which Flourishing established its identity, expanding upon the sound that started taking shape on its 2010 debut EP, A Momentary Sense Of The Immediate World. Formerly pegged as a death-grind band, Flourishing reveals so much more on The Sum Of All Fossils - layers upon layers of tones, rhythms, and emotions that together create something never heard before.
At Flourishing's base is an ambience that could be called "industrial", stemming from bassist Eric Rizk's growling Godflesh tone, drummer Brian Corcoran's machine-like cadences, guitarist Garett Bussanick's dark, effects-drenched counterpoint, and engineer Ryan Jones' natural, roomy production whereby the listener feels actually transported to the middle of a cold factory floor in Birmingham, England in the early 1980s. Reviewing Flourishing's debut EP, InvisibleOranges.com posted: "'Industrial' has come to mean very different things in regards to extreme music, but Flourishing should be the band to bring that tag back to respectability. The band succeeds in this on The Sum Of All Fossils. The menacing low end, mechanical rhythms and eerie spaciousness add up to an ominous mood of impending doom that underlies the whole album."
Residing atop that foundation is the "metal". Riffs churn and swirl, inspired firstly by the grindcore riffing of Napalm Death then brought into the more dissonant realm of bands like Immolation, propelled by Corcoran's creative blasts and double bass. Bussanick's vocals are mainly of the gut-wrenching, soulful variety, reminiscent at times of Obituary's John Tardy (although his impassioned, open-throated singing voice is in fact just as heavy as his screams - play "By Which We're Cemented" for glorious evidence of this.
But Flourishing takes it even further still, introducing emotional shifts, often toward melody and brightness, that send the songs skyward, layering brilliant colors onto the grey. The Sum Of All Fossils contains many such moments - moments of such melodic power, they elevate the music into a timeless arena, untouchable by any genre tag.
It's the layering of these elements - the subterranean industrial vibe, the ground-level brutality, and the astral use of melody - that makes The Sum Of All Fossils a completely new and essential musical statement, one which, despite its advanced nature, appears to come entirely from the heart. It represents a total freedom of thought and action, driven by emotion and a really good list of musical influences.
As did the debut EP, The Sum Of All Fossils features lyrics that delve into perspectives on daily existence as well as broader questions about humankind's place in the universe. From "Fossil Record": "Do you really think we're special? / When was the last time the sun orbited the earth? / Explain that there is something different between the make-up of all these bones / We breath, they breath, we eat, they eat, and I think this divide has passed the point of no return / And what we're left with is an inept mass who thinks little and buys the absurd."
Hailing from New York City, Flourishing fits in loosely with the current scene of forward-thinking New York City metal bands that includes Krallice, Tombs, Castevet, and Pyrrhon. Flourishing guitarist/vocalist Garett Bussanick is also known as one of Wetnurse's two guitarists. Engineer Ryan Jones is bassist in Wetnurse and Today Is The Day.
The Sum Of All Fossils was mastered by Alan Douches (Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan) at West West Side Music.
(Source: Facebook, 14.1.2013)
In 2010 the band release A Momentary Sense Of The Immediate World to critical acclaim and favorable reviews.
The Sum Of All Fossils will be known as the album on which Flourishing established its identity, expanding upon the sound that started taking shape on its 2010 debut EP, A Momentary Sense Of The Immediate World. Formerly pegged as a death-grind band, Flourishing reveals so much more on The Sum Of All Fossils - layers upon layers of tones, rhythms, and emotions that together create something never heard before.
At Flourishing's base is an ambience that could be called "industrial", stemming from bassist Eric Rizk's growling Godflesh tone, drummer Brian Corcoran's machine-like cadences, guitarist Garett Bussanick's dark, effects-drenched counterpoint, and engineer Ryan Jones' natural, roomy production whereby the listener feels actually transported to the middle of a cold factory floor in Birmingham, England in the early 1980s. Reviewing Flourishing's debut EP, InvisibleOranges.com posted: "'Industrial' has come to mean very different things in regards to extreme music, but Flourishing should be the band to bring that tag back to respectability. The band succeeds in this on The Sum Of All Fossils. The menacing low end, mechanical rhythms and eerie spaciousness add up to an ominous mood of impending doom that underlies the whole album."
Residing atop that foundation is the "metal". Riffs churn and swirl, inspired firstly by the grindcore riffing of Napalm Death then brought into the more dissonant realm of bands like Immolation, propelled by Corcoran's creative blasts and double bass. Bussanick's vocals are mainly of the gut-wrenching, soulful variety, reminiscent at times of Obituary's John Tardy (although his impassioned, open-throated singing voice is in fact just as heavy as his screams - play "By Which We're Cemented" for glorious evidence of this.
But Flourishing takes it even further still, introducing emotional shifts, often toward melody and brightness, that send the songs skyward, layering brilliant colors onto the grey. The Sum Of All Fossils contains many such moments - moments of such melodic power, they elevate the music into a timeless arena, untouchable by any genre tag.
It's the layering of these elements - the subterranean industrial vibe, the ground-level brutality, and the astral use of melody - that makes The Sum Of All Fossils a completely new and essential musical statement, one which, despite its advanced nature, appears to come entirely from the heart. It represents a total freedom of thought and action, driven by emotion and a really good list of musical influences.
As did the debut EP, The Sum Of All Fossils features lyrics that delve into perspectives on daily existence as well as broader questions about humankind's place in the universe. From "Fossil Record": "Do you really think we're special? / When was the last time the sun orbited the earth? / Explain that there is something different between the make-up of all these bones / We breath, they breath, we eat, they eat, and I think this divide has passed the point of no return / And what we're left with is an inept mass who thinks little and buys the absurd."
Hailing from New York City, Flourishing fits in loosely with the current scene of forward-thinking New York City metal bands that includes Krallice, Tombs, Castevet, and Pyrrhon. Flourishing guitarist/vocalist Garett Bussanick is also known as one of Wetnurse's two guitarists. Engineer Ryan Jones is bassist in Wetnurse and Today Is The Day.
The Sum Of All Fossils was mastered by Alan Douches (Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan) at West West Side Music.
(Source: Facebook, 14.1.2013)