Merso

Bio:

Good to Die Records is excited to announce their newest signing: Seattle dusky post-rock quartet MERSO. The label will be releasing their debut album in 2016, and the group will respond by playing as many shows as they can both at home and throughout the U.S.

The move to work with Good to Die comes at a time when the band is going through a number of changes. Formerly known as Leatherdaddy, the quartet has taken on a new name, a Latin word meaning, “to be submerged, or drowned.”

“With our original name, we came to realize that that culture isn’t something to joke about,” says Merso’s vocalist Tristan Sennholz. It was time for us to mature and it was time to come up with something that really represents us.”

The new name is also a better reflection of a new sound for the group. Initially leaning on a more psych-metal sound, MERSO is now moving into somber, more conceptual territory inspired by the proggy work of King Crimson and Yes, as well as the metaphorical underpinnings of Alan Moore’s groundbreaking run writing Swamp Thing. The new album ties all that together into a sound that Sennholz describes as “something very mellow at the start but then gets progressively darker and darker until the end of the album culminates in a long dissonant song.”

As Leatherdaddy, the group has already picked up a lot of praise and attention in their hometown of Seattle. Blog No Goddamn Dancing called their self-released EP The Plague House “fantastic,” while noting “their ability to assemble and artfully link a wide range of stylistic approaches.” And alt-weekly The Stranger appreciated the three-song collection’s “torrent of pummeling, down-tuned riffage.”

Don’t let the move in name and sound worry you at all, Merso will still have your heavy needs covered. “It’s still really loud and abrasive at moments,” says Sennholz. “It’s just not as stoner metal/Sabbath-worshiping as it used to be
And if it finally gets folks to stop comparing us to Tool, even better.”

MERSO is currently recording their first full length record at Bear Creek Studio and will be released by Good to Die Records in 2016.

Merso is:
Evan Anderson – Bass
Taylor Carroll – Drums
Taylor Romoser – Guitar
Tristan Sennholz – Vocals / Guitar