Verity Den: Priest Boss

With the flood of album submission and the general thirst for long-form, single reviews are something of a rare bird around these parts.

That being said, with it being a quieter week before the maelstrom that is February, several things aligned in what could be considered the perfect storm.

Who it is, then? Well, firstly, someone involved with the album of the decade in Holy Sons’ Raw & Disfigured. Secondly, they are releasing music under the same label which took another of Sun 13’s albums of year, Luggage’s Hand Is Bad (in a further six degrees of separation, the latter’s Michael Vallera has provided photography / artwork layout to this particular release).

That vital thread weaving this patchwork together? One Casey Proctor. Leading her new band, Verity Den, who earlier this week released Priest Boss – the lead track from their forthcoming self-titled debut set to drop at the beginning of March.

Proctor (previously a part of Haruspex Palace) is joined by Trevor Reece and Mike Wallace (Drag Sounds) and together, with Priest Boss the Carrboro, North Carolina based outfit serve up a brand of diesel-powered dream rock. A slightly scuzzy, blissed-out lo-fi jam that lends itself to new atmospheres.

Priest Boss is so timely. Not just because it’s January, but because it sees Verity Den in this radical enclave that that no one else currently occupies. In a sound world where the pastiche and conservatism seem to be running off the conveyor belt faster than ever, guitar-based music needs a jolt, and it’s possible that Verity Den are here to give it just that.

Whichever way you look at it, this is outlier art. A grainy snapshot that it actually feels destined to be another chapter in the story of this website. So, single reviews or not, this band needed to be underlined sooner rather than later. Here’s hoping Verity Den’s debut long-player follows a similar path.

Priest Boss is out now via Amish Records. Pre-order Verity Den from Bandcamp.